Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.
This executive order, signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on 1959-12-03, establishes federal administrative policy concerning "Excusing Federal Employees From Duty One-Half Day on December 24, 1959." It outlines operative directives for executive department officers, delegating enforcement responsibilities and establishing official governance guidelines.
Constitutional Assessment: Scrutinized through Article II, Section 2, this action exercises the President's constitutional role as Commander in Chief. Early Framers recognized broad executive discretion in commanding military forces during conflict, provided it remains bounded by congressional declarations and respects civilian domestic courts.
Key Directives & Operative Actions
▪The heads of departments, agencies, and independent establishments shall, to the extent consistent with the needs of the service, adopt a liberal policy for the granting of annual leave to all employees who wish to take such leave over the holiday period.
▪This order shall not be construed as excusing from duty those employees of the Department of State, the Department of Defense, or other departments, establishments, or agencies who for national security or other public reasons should, in the judgment of the respective heads thereof, be at their posts of duty.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments
🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities
🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants
🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners
Total Words
255
1,601 characters
Estimated Read Time
1 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
24.3
Post-Grad reading level
Constitutional Polarity
+0.02
Framers' Alignment index
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Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 10856, Dwight D. Eisenhower (Dec 3, 1959). Available at https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-10856-excusing-federal-employees-from-duty-one-half-day-december-24-1959.
Official Document Text
Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB Archive)
By virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States, it is hereby ordered that employees of the several executive departments, independent establishments, and other governmental agencies, including the General Accounting Office, the Government Printing Office, and the field services of the respective departments, establishments, and agencies of the Government, except those who may for special public reasons be excluded from the provisions of this order by the heads of their respective departments, establishments, or agencies, or those whose absence from duty would be inconsistent with the provisions of existing law, shall be excused from duty for one-half day on Thursday, December 24, 1959, the day preceding Christmas Day; and such one-half day shall be considered a holiday within the meaning of Executive Order No. 10358 of June 9, 1952, and of all statutes so far as they relate to the compensation and leave of employees of the United States. The heads of departments, agencies, and independent establishments shall, to the extent consistent with the needs of the service, adopt a liberal policy for the granting of annual leave to all employees who wish to take such leave over the holiday period. This order shall not be construed as excusing from duty those employees of the Department of State, the Department of Defense, or other departments, establishments, or agencies who for national security or other public reasons should, in the judgment of the respective heads thereof, be at their posts of duty. DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER THE WHITE HOUSE, December 3, 1959.
